This work focuses on three basic questions: (1) what types of social support relationships are effective in reducing the negative impact of job loss upon mental and physical health? (2) How do contextual variables (family, friendship networks, neighborhood and former work place) affect the relationship between stressful job loss and health? and (3) What characteristics of supportive social relationships are more important than others in reducing the risk of poor mental and physical health? Through detailed case studies of 24 family units over time and survey interviewing of a 24-month panel of 800 respondents (selected from a population of currently insured unemployed) we propose to collect data on the interactions among five health profiles and social support relationships. The principal emphasis is on the interaction that occurs between health and economic roles in a variety of supportive contexts. Field site of the investigation will be six neighborhoods in the Detroit area, stratified according to size, ethnic mix, race and value systems. Neighborhood, family and former work place are utilized as major control variables to assess the impact of different contexts on the health of job losers. Our logic of investigation is three fold: (1) the use of in-depth case studies of families to define and follow supportive social relationships as reported by family members; (2) the use of a five-wave panel whose members will report on changes in their economic roles over time and on the role of social supports in providing functional and emotional resources during these change periods; and (3) the use of supplementary study data from another project to see how supportive social mechanisms in the neighborhood shape and influence the behavior of respondents who are experiencing the stress of job loss.